A Bismarck woman was charged with a felony on Monday after reportedly leaving her two children unattended in her unlocked vehicle, which was running, while she was inside a Wal-Mart store.
Karla Renea Henson, 25, was taken into custody at 6:30 p.m. and charged with two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison, and possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. She remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $6,000 bond and is set to appear April 19 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, Hot Springs police officers responded to Wal-Mart, 4019 Central Ave., and located two juveniles unattended in a running vehicle. An officer opened the door to the unlocked car, a silver Chevrolet Malibu, to check the welfare of the juveniles. Officers attempted to make contact with Henson, the owner of the vehicle, and after 10 minutes Henson exited Wal-Mart. She said the children were hers.
Henson was detained and taken to the police department to be interviewed while the Arkansas Department of Human Services took custody of her children.
During the interview, Henson reportedly said she left her 14-month-old and 1-month-old children unattended in her vehicle while she went inside Wal-Mart to use the restroom and retrieve a wire money transfer. She estimated she was inside the store for approximately 10 minutes.
At the Garland County Detention Center, Deputies Shannon Newman and Layne Johnson reportedly found Henson to be in possession of 0.6 gram of Diazepam in a Lorazapam prescription bottle.
Local on 04/06/2016